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Archive for February, 2010

Somebody Hand Me a Donut! Please

February 27th, 2010 at 07:41 pm

If you recall, last Sunday I slipped down the stairs and landed HARD on my tailbone and was stopped by my right heel/ankle. Well, my ankle has pretty much healed and I'm able to walk up and down stairs with little residual trouble. My tailbone however .... Ugh!

So, this morning I was debating on whether or not I should go to church. I wanted to go. I *needed* to go. But, I wasn't sure if I could handle sitting that long.

Then I told myself that I was able to sit through 5 90 minute tutoring sessions, as well as 2 2 hour sessions without it hardly bothering me. So, there should be no reason why I couldn't make it through Sabbath School and church.

I conveniently forgot a couple things though. One was the 45 minute drive to get there. Driving is NOT fun. The other important thing I forgot was that during the tutorng sessions, all my weight is generally on my thighs because I'm leaning forward most of the time. In church and
SS, my weight is on my backside - the tailbone.

So, I made it through the drive there. Passed three dead skunks on the way. Pew!
Then I managed to sit through an hour of SS - with lots of fidgeting and changing positions. Finally about 30 minutes into the church service, just as the sermon was getting started, I had to get up and go stand in the back for the remainder.

Oh, and the drive back? I ended up behind the world's slowest driver, so a trip that shouldn't have taken more than 45 minutes took about 55 minutes!

So... someone suggested rolling up a towel as a makeshift donut. That kind of works, but not for very long. It seems like this is going to take a while to heal, so I think I want an actual donut. But I have no idea where to get one????

Walgreens??

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I don't know what is going on with the person who had agreed to be my library mentor. I had emailed her several weeks ago asking her if I needed to do a background check before coming to do a storytime. She told me that yes I would, and then she suggested that I use some books which received a Christian medal of honor. I emailed her back asking her where /who I would get the ball rolling on the background check, and also told her that I wouldn't be able to use any religous themed books for either the storytime or the booktalk because we're required to have books appropriate for public school.

She emailed me back and told me that I should check that it was okay for her to be my mentor since she'd switched from a public school to a private school. I checked, and found out it wasn't a problem. Over a week ago I emailed her back with that info, again asking about how I'd go about getting the background check accomplished. As of today, I still haven't gotten a response.

My storytime project is due March 21!

So today, one of the reasons I really needed to go to church, was so that I could talk to the pre-school/kinder teacher about doing a storytime with her kids.She was more than happy to accommodate me, so I'll be doing it on March 9. Unfortunately, the upper grades teacher is not state certified, so I'm not sure how Ill do the booktalk (due April something).

What's really frustrating is that if the lady who had said she would mentor me chooses she'd rather not, then I'll have to do another storytime and booktalk for whoever I find to be my mentor. Such a waste of time!

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My frustrations though pale considerably when I think about the earthquake in Chlie this morning, and the possibility of Hawaii being hit with a tsunami.

I could have it so much worse.

Class canceled, earning points

February 23rd, 2010 at 10:36 pm

This morning I woke up to an inch of snow on the ground. Other areas south of us got several inches. School wasn't canceled, so I worked with my tutoring student.

When I got home I was tired due to not sleeping well (thanks to my tailbone) and was also feeling frustrated at how the tutoring student seems to be trying to sabotage himself. He got a passing grade on his last two quizzes and test - so now he wants to cut our biology study time in half (other half on English). Everyone here who works with him thinks it's a bad idea. But his parents in Korea have agreed to it. So unless he starts understanding it lots better on his own, this last test where he made a 79, may be his highest grade. Ugh.

Anyway. I decided to take a nap. Of course I'd barely laid down when my dad called me to rub in that he was out in barefeet picking oranges. Smile Then I got a call from my ASL teacher telling me class was canceled tonight due to possible ice on the road. Frown Frown

So finally I took my nap. When I got up I talked to my stepdad. Apparantally my mom thinks I've been leaving my dishes in the sink and oatmeal on the counter. Well, the dish in question is actually a pot. I don't use a pot to make my oatmeal. The oatmeal on the counter is a namebrand. My oatmeal is not - plus I keep my scoop in it. Rolleyes I told him no big deal, that I'd put her stuff away if I see it left out. He said he'll talk to her about it.

Seriously, I could care less. It's just slightly annoying to have it assumed that the stuff is mine when I've tried to be ultra concious about putting things away after myself.

In other news (actual financial) I haven't eaten out since Thursday! I'm starting to earn points for the challenge a bit late, but better late than never, right? Smile

Oh, class being canceled tonight means that I'll probably only have one more tank of gas for Feb. That'll mean I'll come in under gas budget this month! Which is good, because last month I went over.

Slipping And Sliding OUCH!

February 22nd, 2010 at 06:37 pm

So yesterday afternoon I decided it was time to do some laundry. The weather had started to turn a bit cooler, so I was wearing my slipper socks to keep my feet warm.

As I walked down the carpeted stairs, some clothes fell out of my laundry bag. I turned and bent to pick them up. Next thing I knew I had my tailbone hitting a stair HARD and slid down a couple of steps until the heel of my right foot stopped my descent.

As of now, the heel/ankle are manageable, as long as I walk on my forefoot - especially when going up and down stairs. The tailbone however is *majorly* uncomfortable when sitting (like, driving!) or even when laying down (like, sleeping!)

I'm hoping I just bruised my tailbone/ankle and it will heal in a few days. I don't want to even think about how much it might cost to get x-rays of my tailbone ...

Moral of the story: Pay attention when walking down stairs!

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Oh, in case you haven't looked in awhile. Smile I have new posts on both my children's books blog and my frugal blog. Big Grin

Mabye being single isn't so bad

February 19th, 2010 at 11:41 pm

I've been thinking a lot lately about the fact that I'm almost 35 and the prospects ... well, there just aren't any. Then the other night I got a call from the elevator guy (ex bf). He ended up asking me if I thought it would be offensive to a woman he'd dated about a month sending her a text message saying he wanted to break it off. Rolleyes Of course he'd already sent it ... In the course of our conversation he said something about how maybe it's just easier being single.

Take it to today. There's this person I know. She's really a fantastic person in so many ways. Until it comes to money. She and 3rd husband have had lots and lots of issues regarding her way of dealing with money. She and second hubby had the same problems.

She gets it into her head that "she's making money, so why can't she get what she wants!" Yeah. Alrighty.

So today I find out that she has gotten herself an iPhone on a 10-day trial. Mind you, she wasn't at a two-year contract renewal point. So ... full price.

Normally, I would have no problem with this. The problem however is that she is attempting to hide the fact that she has a different phone from hubby. He will NOT be happy. And she knows this. (Needless to say, this is a pattern with her. Hiding purchases. Justifying with "I make money so I should be able to spend it how I want!)

I don't know what the point of a 10-day trial period is, unless you're not sure you'll get good reception. Because once you have the phone and use it for more than a few days, You are hooked.

My guess is she's going to wait until the 10 days are up and then let hubby in on it. Yep, that's going to be fun.

Yeah, so, being single, while not quite a great thing (you know - lack of companionship, cuddles, etc. etc.), it may not be that bad after all. If I mess up my finances, it's all on me. Nobody else can do anything to mess up my financial picture. (Of course if you find someone who has a similar money view as you ... then that becomes a moot point.)

My car :rolleyes:

February 18th, 2010 at 02:42 am

So ... last night on my way to my ASL class, I decided to stop at Sonic and get a grilled cheese sandwich. I was about halfway finished, when I got a phone call. We talked for about 20 minutes.

All this time my car had been turned off. But ... maybe my lights were on???

My car wouldn't start. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Luckily I still had my jumper cables in my trunk. Thankfully the lady next to me in her month-old truck was not only willing to jump start me, but knew how to do it.

I drove to my class and turned my car off. It restarted right away. After class it started up, and today I've had no problems.

I just can't tell you how tempted I am to take up the offers from my relatives (dad, uncle, grandma) to get a new car.

Just that big dollar figure being owed to a relative makes me go back to keep on trying to keep my lil' ol' Honda moving along.

Background: it's a Honda Civic 97 with ~121k miles. Lots of mechanical problems, etc. summer of 09.)

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Got my final paycheck from the gym today. $144!!! Woo Hoo! Rolleyes

Snow! - Need Business Name

February 11th, 2010 at 07:23 pm

The forecasters had been saying we might get a mix of rain and snow sometime late Thursday, but that it'd be more rain than snow.

Then ... this morning I woke up a little earlier than my alarm and saw an email from the host parent of the Korean student I'm working with. It said school had been canceled. Curious, I got up and looked out my window ...






It is supposed to keep snowing until midnight tonight, so I suspect school will at the least be delayed or canceled tomorrow.

Yesterday when I was done working with the Korean boy, I stopped across the street and got my oil changed, radiator flushed and brake fluid replaced. My uncle (over Christmas) had told me I should do the radiator fluid soon ... so I finally did it. Smile I'm glad I got all that out of the way yesterday.

Tutoring is going well. I think I'm making a pretty good impression on the host parent. The host parent apparently is the sister of the school's registrar. I may have the possibility of another tutoring student or two from the same school. I met the mom of the autistic boy on Monday, but he was sick, so we haven't talked anymore since then.

I may have a very full schedule soon!

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Tuesday night I had my first ASL class. I loved it! We're going to have a test each week, and we'll have potlucks with the deaf members, and they'll come in and tell us stories and eventually we'll have to sign a paragraph length story while the rest of us write it down. I've found a couple apps on my iPhone to help me practice. There's a total of 10 people in my class, plus two or three instructors.

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I haven't done well at all on the no eating out challenge this month. Somehow telling myself I'm not going to do it has caused me to do more of it than usual. Well, at least I know I won't be doing it today or probably tomorrow! Smile

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Almost forgot. I need a business name for my tutoring. When it was just the one or two kids, I didn't really need anything formal. But if I start getting more ...

So ... any ideas? I was thinking of just registering my name as a dba, but am not sure if that's a good idea. Or, maybe I could use the name of my classroom website I used to have (can't put it on here, because part of my last name is in it) ?
When I had a business before, I had LAN enterprises - don't know if I could use that again - plus it doesn't sound very appealing for tutoring.

I Can't Believe It! A Refund!!!

February 5th, 2010 at 03:55 am

For the last six months or so, I've been sweating doing my 2009 taxes. From the calculations I'd made with the 2008 turbo tax, it sure looked like I was going to end up owing around $1500 due to Self-employment taxes. It really worried me how I was going to make my savings last for tuition AND paying the tax.

I was basing this off of making roughly $10k at the gym (plus the w-2 income from January/Feb). Today, though, I found out I'd made about $7500. And that right there made all the difference. Seriously.

First, I qualified for the Earned Income Tax Credit. That put me down to owing about $200. Then, I put in my education expenses. That brought me to a REFUND!!!! of ..... $62!!!

This puts me in a real conundrum as to how to do estimated taxes for 2010. I more than likely will make less than 12k for 2010, and will have a similar amount of an educational deduction. So ... with EITC and the education credit, I doubt I'll end up owing more than a few hundred dollars, if that. Maybe just go ahead and send in $300 a quarter, and then get it all back later (most likely)? Just to be safe? I probably need to talk to a small business tax person - I just hate to do that since *every penny* counts right now.

Ugh! I'd so much rather be getting W-2's than have to be messing with all of this kind of stuff.

I Quit the Gym!!!

February 2nd, 2010 at 05:30 pm

Starting on Monday, I will be working 90 minutes per weekday with a ninth-grade student on Biology and English. He has limited English proficiency and narcolepsy (where he falls asleep without warning). On his test days (for biology) I'll sit in the classroom with him and read the test with him (and I think I get paid extra for that).

Woo Hoo!

This is at the same school where I interviewed last week for the keyboarding position.

Also ... on Monday I'll be meeting with a mom of another 9th grade boy who is Autistic. If we gell, then I may start shadowing her son in his afternoon classes one or two days a week. The mom has been doing the shadowing full time since the woman who'd worked with him before found another job in her field. So, this would mainly be a way for the mom to be able to get some things done during the school day.

If I have all three of these jobs (tutoring 6th grade boy, and the two 9th grade boys) I will not only have enough to pay my bills each month, but have enough to put away for tuition for next year! Meaning, that I may not have to borrow from my dad for my final semester (which is something I was thinking I may have to do, due to all the car expenses).

Best of all, though - No more gym after this Thursday!!!

This will mean that I'll have to be more efficient with my own classwork, but I really think it is quite doable.

Heh, I'm going back to high-school!